International diamond trading group bans Zimbabwe diamonds, despite Kimberley go-ahead

The Rapaport Diamond Trading Network has instructed its members not to trade in the recently issued diamonds from Zimbabwe's Marange minefields. Any member who traded in the stones would be blacklisted and expelled, the organisation said in a statement. This is despite a Kimberley Process certificate making trading in the Marange stones legal, after an audit declared that the "minimum standards" had been met in the mining of the stones, which RapNet disputes. The sale of Marange diamonds last Wednesday raised $46 million for Zimbabwe, after a nine month ban on trade in Zim stones was lifted. Read more: The AP and Voice of America.